But take careful aim

At this point it does not matter anymore whether it was the Senate, the Batasan, the bi-cameral conference committee, or the President who is responsible for the anti-cybercrime bill. The two houses of Congress should have checked and balanced each other out and failing that, the President should have done it. They are all equally to blame for the passage of that law.

But the government has not failed us. It is our elected officials who did. Hacking government websites that perform a public service for our fellow citizens, ordinary folks who use those sites for information and transactions, is self-defeating. Let us not make war on our own kind. Let us differentiate between government institutions and elected officials.

If we are to take down sites then let it be the personal websites, blogs, and social media accounts of those elected officials who were responsible for waging war on our freedom. Attack the sites of congressmen, senators, and the president and those in his administration who were directly involved with the anti-cybercrime bill but please don’t hit the health department, social welfare services, passports, public works etc. because they have nothing to do with the crafting and implementation of that law. They are innocent bystanders in this war. They are simply performing public service. Hacking them just because they are part of the government is like exploding a car bomb in a populated area to send a message to the enemy. It leaves too much blood on the streets and alienates even those who might have found common cause with you, the hackers. Innocent bystanders are not fair game. Do not be a suicide bomber, be a sniper.

Government is made up of individuals, it is not a faceless entity. There is a list of legislators who voted for the anti-cybercrime bill, get their names and draw a bullseye on their websites and social media accounts. There is also a procedure that the executive department follows before the president signs a bill into law. Look into it so that you can identify the culprits. If any or all those people do not have any blogs or social media accounts, you can still hit them through your own sites and accounts. Pursue a scorched earth policy against them. Let those to whom you gave your trust know the wrath of the betrayed. No holds barred.

It is now up to the Supreme Court to strike down that law. If the Supreme Court upholds the law then that means our highest elected and appointed officials have declared war on those who elevated them to their positions. You will know what to do if and when that happens.

Manuel Buencamino

Buencamino was a weekly columnist for Today and Business Mirror. He has also written articles in other publications like Malaya, Newsbreak, "Yellow Pad" in Business World, and "Talk of the Town" in the Inquirer. He is currently with Interaksyon, the news site of TV5. MB blogged for Filipino Voices, blogs for ProPinoy and maintains a blog, Uniffors.com. Game-changers for him, as far as music goes, are Monk, Miles, Jimi, and Santana.

Hey, JoeAm…. I hope you remember to pay attention to unusual click-clicks which may suggest that special agencies of GOBYERNO are listening and taping your cell phone call. If not now, then maybe later you’ll be a target what with your innuendoes and GUILTY!!! claims about abuses and graft by children of former presidents who become presidents themselves.

Dang!!! Kudos to ManuBuen and his satire of listening devices at GuLLOOO’s room at Medical Center. Now, if that ManuBjuen blog-article wasn’t perfect prediction of what PersiNoynoy will do (after a few legal details get taken care of), I don’t know what would be.

And JoeAm… about the click-clicks when you hear them… don’t bother to ask your friends at Pilipinas court if there
had been a court order. With cellphones among the devices that can send e-mail or do instant messaging, then Court approval — NOT REQJIRED. That’s the bill that PersiNoynoy signed into law. ( Dang!!!! Vladimir Putin will say Hip-hip-Hooray to that Noynoy Dude!!!! )

UPnnGrd

Inquirer-dot writes, but who knows ? So is it true that the bill the PresiNoyi-Noy signed gives him the power to do more “listening” and “eavesdropping” without need for a warrant? Wow!!! I bet all future presidents especially those who are children of former presidents would want that power!!!

This is what inquirer-dot states: Mr. Aquino specifically backed . . . .that people who post defamatory comments online be given much longer jail sentences than those who commit libel in traditional media..
. . . . . .
Another controversial element of the law, which went into effect on Wednesday, allows the government to monitor online activities, such as e-mail, video chats and instant messaging, without a warrant. The government can also now close down . . . . .

Wow!!! Without a warrant!!! So there is no need for PersiNoynoy to ask for court approval, PresiNoynoy can now put electronic monitoring equipment in guLLOO’s room at VMMC or in Bong Bong’s room whereever bongBong’s room is. Hey!!! Bong Bong and guLLO’s cellphones can do e-mail and instant messaging, right?

bongBong is probably saying… Hey!!! I wanna be president next!!! Me Next!!! That dude in Utrecht (though he is not a child of a former president…) that Utrecht-dude surely now says all the more “Hey!!! Me!! Me!!! I wanna be Big-BOSS!!! No court warrant to listen to my friends, wow!!!!”

cocoy

The DDoS attack by a non-state-sponsored group is at best, a riot, and at worst— a terrorist attack. Why there isn’t a loud clamor to bring order is beyond me. I am dismayed by this. We should abide by order.

The Supreme Court isn’t the final battle ground. What I’m hearing on the ground doesn’t look good. That said, already there are active moves to amend the law. Whether those moves will not succeed is a 50-50 chance.

There are other alternatives, but those are long term goals, and may not see the light of day even beyond 2016, if at all.

But it is a sad, sad moment when the President himself is spearheading this law.

I think he WAS spearheading it when he thought it was narrowly focused on cybersex. I’m guessing he was taken aback by the criticism, like so many of the congresspeople now scrambling for redemption.

UPnnGrd

PERSInoy would be spearheading… but there is more than just cyberSEX, there are also those lines which dispenses with getting court approval. HE GOT IT!!! That’s the law that PersiNoy signed — no need for court approval when PersiNoy wants to monitor cellphones and other devices that can send e-mail or InstantMessaging…. listen for troublemakers (like college studentt crazies) or potential defamatory statements or discussions of accounting transactions or get-out-of-jail strategies by lawyers and accountants of Manny Villar, Corona and those Pilipinas presidents who are children of a former President.

GabbyD

marochim’s position on this is crazy. he says that defacing website is ok. if someone defaces his website, thats ok too?

UPnnGrd

I am listening to Obama-Romney debate and I have this dulling thought…. about governance and leadership by the Noynoy administration. Quo vadis?

I know about the on-going super-duper drive of JAIL-FOR-GuLLOO… a quedtion is what else is in the playbook? Luneta is something that just happened, just like Scarborough (and this Trillanes thing) just erupted. ReproHealth just got sidelined (and FOI is sidelinedf) while Cyber-is-IT.

President Noynoy seems to be waiting for history to create his legacy… President Noynoy seems to be acting as “caretaker”…. like Cory.

UPnnGrd

There is a loophole in Pilipinas law-writing.

President Noynoy (if he is against that libel insertion) should berate deLima and all his legal advisers for not pointing out the sleight-of-hand insertion to him.

———————–
In a perverted way, Pilipinas should be thankful to Senator Sotto on the importance of due-diligence.

SOFTWARE TO THE RESCUE!!!! Heidi, why couldn’t you have audited the bill-signing process?? The next go-around, folks (Malakanyang folks, Congress folks, and the members of Pilipinas Civil Liberties Union and maybe Harry Roque’s law class) should do version control on documents to flag any and all insertions/changes that are about to get passed but which have not yet been discussed.

GabbyD

thanks for this. i’ve been waiting for a more nuanced approach on this.

The three senators on the Senate Ethics Committee who are up for re-election and who have allowed the Sotto’s ethical transgressions to pass without comment are A. Cayetano, Honasan, Legarda. They are on my list for tossing as they are underwriting the values that make dark deeds happen (not just plagiarism, but threatening honorable whistle blowers and seeking to exact revenge). I think many legislators, and even the President, did not know the libel provision was there (it was inserted without debate or public airing by . . . ta dah . . .Sotto). Angara the Young gets a kick in the shorts, front side, for insisting on defending the Bill.

UPnnGrd

Why is everyone giving Malakanyang a pass on this?

:Please do not tell me that Pinoys of Pinas are so naive that they do not know of sleight-of-hands getting done. Really, now…. is the word “rider” not recognizable to the luminaries of Malakanyang?

If PresiNoynoy were to say “… my hand got forced!”, I will understand that. But for Malakanyang to say “…. we did not know of the insertion”… that is irresponsibility.

I agree with Cocoy. Lots of criticism, no free pass, and his popularity ratings will go down. This is a threat to his good governance legacy, so he needs to lead the effort to get the thuggery out of the cybercrime bill.

The ProPinoy Project

The ProPinoy Project is a Global Community Center for all things Pinoy, to connect Filipinos at home and abroad by creating a space for ideas, trends and analyses about the Philippines and the global Pinoy community to inspire informed discussion and transformative action.

The ProPinoy Project is a Global Community Center for all things Pinoy, to connect Filipinos at home and abroad by creating a space for ideas, trends and analyses about the Philippines and the global Pinoy community to inspire informed discussion and transformative action.